Wine a hot topic on big, little screens

Wine with Hillary: Break out the champagne!

Toast election victory or numb your pain

As most of you know, next week we will be having a contest worthy of its own pay-per-view special in which one side will come out victorious and lord it over the losers for the next four years. Lest the Orient be blamed for a political bias, I will not say whom I want to win, but instead, this week, I am devoting my column to the proper drink for all celebratory occasions: champagne.

Wine with Hillary: Complimenting turkey

So, this week, I would like to remind you (just like your professors, the CPC, and everyone else who likes to nag) that we are just two weeks out from Thanksgiving. Wahoo! Three extra days of weekend?and you get to spend it with your family, who will hopefully fork over some money along with the leftovers.

Wine with Hillary

Wine a hot topic on big, little screens

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

November 5, 2004

I've noticed that wine drinking has become a hot topic of late. All of a sudden, all over the place, the media is full of wine drinkers. Now, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing, in fact, far from it. But what is causing this huge interest in something so ancient? I don't know, but I'm giving you a heads up about some of the wine-related stuff out for consumption (pun intended).

John Cleese, of Monty Python fame, has a special on the Food Network where he travels around helping to introduce wine to the population at large. I don't know if it's just me, but I don't really see why you would trust a guy who used to peddle albatross as a food product when it comes to what you should look for in a wine. I watched the first episode, and while it was nice to see Brendan Fraser making faces at the camera, I found the show to be somewhat patronizing. However, kudos to John Cleese for coming out and saying on national television what I've been saying here all along: a good wine doesn't have to cost a lot. Furthermore, he also makes it very clear that what a person prefers in a wine is very personal, so in order to get the best wine for you it's important to try many wines so you know what you like.

The Food Network also has a wine IQ test on their website under the Games section. Also upcoming is the film Sideways, which follows around Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church as they quest for the perfect California wine. I can't wait to see it, but I'll have to since the nearest theater where it's playing is in Boston. And now, on to the wines.

1. Bogle Vineyards 2002 Petite Sirah

I really liked this wine. The petite sirah wine is from California although it is genetically identical to the Durif grape grown in France. Do I care? Not really, but it's a fun little wine snob fact. We found that it drank very smoothly. The taste is spicy and smoky. We prefer it with snacks as it does taste rather dark, but it isn't especially bitter. One of my tasters, for reasons inconceivable, decided to drink it under the tongue, leading to the remark, "It tastes like j*sm." Odd drinking practices aside, we really liked this wine, and I've already bought and drank a second bottle. $10 at Shaw's (I think).

2. Abbazia Santa Anaztasia 2002 Nero d'Avola

The Nero d'Avola wine comes from Sicily. However, unlike the many other things we associate with Sicily, this won't kill you. My tasters found it to have a slightly sweet initial taste, but that it was predominantly smoky and somewhat bitter. This very dark wine requires some food to go with it. I would recommend it with sautéed mushrooms and polenta. Some of my tasters found the bitterness to be a bit much, but I really enjoyed it. $10.99 at Freeport Cheese & Wine.

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